


Drunk and Disorderly

by rockerchica826 (janecanblog)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst and Humor, Community: hd_worldcup, HP: EWE, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-01
Updated: 2011-07-01
Packaged: 2017-10-20 22:01:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/217523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/janecanblog/pseuds/rockerchica826
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hermione finally passes a law to free all House Elves, but how much trouble will it cause?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Drunk and Disorderly

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Team EWE in the second H/D World Cup on LiveJournal--Prompt #14 Drunk as a house elf.

_A man in a black cloak walks along a row of graves to stand next to a stone in the grass. The cool wind blows his dark hair across his face. He reaches a callused hand up to brush it away from his piercing green eyes._

 _Adjusting the wire-framed glasses on his face, the man kneels down next to the stone. He runs a hand slowly through the dew-covered grass, avoiding the few spots where it's still brown from winter._

 _"She did it, Dobby," the man says softly, moving his hand up to stroke the words engraved on the stone. "Hermione finally freed all the House Elves."_

 _The wind picks up for a moment and the man can hear the sounds of water crashing against rock. He stands again and takes a deep breath. A small smile plays out across the man's face and he looks back at the stone once more._

 _"I'm sure Malfoy's going mental."_

~~~~

"You have got to be bloody kidding me!"

Draco slammed the newspaper onto the table in front of him almost knocking over his glass of pumpkin juice. "Bloody Mudblood and her stupid bloody laws. How is a respectable man supposed to tell his House Elf that she's free?"

Draco hunched over, running his hands over his face and through his shaggy blonde hair. When he heard the fireplace in the next room flared up, he groaned.

"Draco?" he heard his mother's voice say. "Draco I need to speak with you."

"Coming, Mother," he said, pushing his chair back and taking a deep breath. He walked slowly into the other room, adjusting his cloak and running a hand through his hair to make sure it was lying flat. When he reached the next room, he sat carefully in the large plush chair in front of the fireplace. "What do you need, Mother?"

"Well it's nice to see you, too, Draco," Narcissa said with a scoff. "You know, this is the least dignified way to speak to a person. If you were a gentleman, you would allow me to come through instead of making me kneel with my head in the fire."

"Mother, what is this about? Do you _need_ to see me in person?"

Narcissa sighed. "I'm sure by now you've seen the announcement in the paper about that ridiculous new law."

"Yes, the Mudblood has finally gotten her wish. But you know I read the paper every morning with my breakfast."

"Your Father is currently freeing all of our House Elves. We wanted to make sure that you are doing the same."

Draco shifted forward in his chair. "Stop beating around the bush, Mother."

"Your Father thinks it necessary that one of us watches as you do it."

"What?" Draco furrowed his brow. "Why?"

"The way a House Elf reacts after it is freed is a strong indication of how it has been treated and the quality of the creature."

Draco felt his face growing hot. "So, you need to watch me free my House Elf in order to report back to Father about whether or not my elf and I are worthy creatures?"

"Draco you mustn't think of it that way. You—"

Draco cut her off with a wave of his hand. "No. It's fine. I'll play Father's little game. I'm not ashamed." He stood up and walked around to the back of his chair. "Melby," he called out.

The soft pop of House Elf apparition was followed by a squeak of "Master Draco, sir." The elf had appeared between the chair and the fireplace and immediately hunched over into a low bow, large eyes looking eagerly in Draco's direction.

Draco bent over and removed one of his socks. "This is not a business call, Melby. I've called you here to give you something." He held out the sock over the chair, reaching it toward the small elf. "Please, take it."

Melby shied away from the sock at first but eventually took it into her hands. "Does Master Draco need Melby to wash his sock, sir?"

"No, the sock is for you. It's a gift."

Melby's eyes widened and her lip began to tremble. "Master Draco is giving Melby clothes?" Tears began to stream from the elf's eyes. "Melby is sorry for being a bad elf, Master. Can Master ever forgive Melby?" The words then morphed into incomprehensible wails of anguish.

"Melby, you didn't do anything wrong. You can still work for me, but I have to pay you for it." The wails grew louder and more painful for a few more minutes before Melby apparated into the room at the end of the hall. Draco could still hear the howling, but it was quiet enough that he could finish his conversation with his mother.

Draco returned to his seat in front of the fireplace. "Are you happy now? Did she react well enough?"

"Yes," Narcissa said. "You quite obviously treat your elf more humanely than you should, but it still knows its place. Your Father will be satisfied with my report."

Draco tried not to roll his eyes. "Great. I'm so glad. Anything else?"

"Yes, actually," Narcissa said, "Your Hogwarts Reunion is coming up soon. Have you received your invitation yet?"

"No," Draco said sourly, "And I hope I never do."

Narcissa's face grew stern. "Draco. You know you have to go to your reunion. The terms of your probation are—"

"That I will become a beneficial part of society," Draco said, finishing for her. "I understand that, Mother, but I don't understand what that has to do with me going to this stupid Reunion."

"If you are seen at this Reunion, and are not causing trouble, it will be seen as you participating actively in society. It will help, and you will do it."

"Thanks for the choice, Mother," Draco said bitterly. "Is there anything else that you are requiring me to do?"

Narcissa smiled. "That will be all for now. I will be expecting good news from this Reunion, Draco. Behave yourself."

Draco sighed. "Goodbye, Mother."

"Goodbye, Draco."

As the fireplace grew quiet again, Draco's attention was brought back to the wailing House Elf in the other room. His head fell back against the chair and he let out a frustrated groan. It was going to be a long day.

~~~~

Breakfast at Bill and Fleur's became a tradition for big days after the war. Shell Cottage wasn't as big as the Burrow by any means, but it was comfort.

Today, the occasion was Hermione's new law. Everyone talked excitedly and congratulated her on her accomplishment as they devoured their breakfast and left to prepare for their respective jobs.

Harry and Hermione were the last to head out to the Apparition Point. As they approached, Hermione turned to Harry, "Have you figured out how you're going to free Kreacher?"

Harry was thrown off for a second. "Oh. I hadn't even thought about that. _I_ have to free Kreacher?"

"Of course you do, Harry. Kreacher is your responsibility. Though I don't quite understand why you didn't free him before."

"Besides the fact that he'll probably go ballistic?"

Hermione laughed. "I'm sure a lot of people are going to have the same issues, but if they've been treating their House Elves kindly, the House Elves will stay loyal to them and continue to work with payment. Kreacher will be fine, Harry." She pat Harry on the back and then backed away to prepare to Apparate. "Why don't you go do it now? I'll let Kingsley know you might be a little late."

Harry opened his mouth to protest but Hermione was already gone. He closed his mouth and frowned, thinking of Grimmauld Place, and with a pop he was gone.

When he landed at home, he went to his bedroom to find a sock and then called Kreacher to him.

Kreacher appeared with a pop and immediately bowed low and croaked "Master Harry."

"Kreacher, I have something to tell you and you aren't going to like it very much, but I forbid you to punish yourself for it."

"Master is going to free Kreacher," the elf said and Harry's jaw dropped. It was then that he smelled the alcohol. Kreacher reeked of it. He opened his mouth to speak but the elf spoke first. "Kreacher heard Master talking to his friends in the fire this morning about freeing all the House Elves."

Harry wasn't all that surprised that Kreacher had figured out what was going on. He was very intelligent. The thing that surprised him was the way the House Elf was swaying back and forth. "Kreacher? Have you been drinking?"

The House Elf looked up at Harry sheepishly, but when he opened his mouth to speak, he hiccupped instead.

Harry took a deep breath and held out the sock to the elf. "I _am_ freeing you, Kreacher, but I don't want you to think that you still can't work for me. I will start paying you, but nothing else has to change if you don't want it to. Or, if you don't want to serve me anymore, you can leave."

Tears began to stream from Kreacher's eyes. "Master Harry will keep Kreacher?"

Harry smiled. "Of course I'll keep you Kreacher. And you know that you are not the only free House Elf. All of the House Elves are free now, so you aren't a disgrace to any of them." Harry looked at the watch on his wrist. "But you need to take this sock now and I need to get to work, okay?"

Kreacher looked up at Harry with wide, tear-filled eyes and took the sock from his hand. As Harry Apparated away, Kreacher began to cry in earnest, wailing and sniffing all the way back to his room.

~~~~

It had been a long day for Draco.

The Floo call with his mother was just the beginning. Not long after that, Draco had received the invitation to the Hogwarts reunion the next week and then a letter from the Ministry outlining the new rules for the treatment of Free House Elves. As if it wasn't frustrating enough to have to pay the bloody things, now there were regulations about what House Elves were able to shop for and handle in the house.

By the end of the day, Draco was furious, just thinking of all the things he wouldn't be able to do now that his elf was out of commission. Work had been boring and he just wanted to get home and relax. He had hoped to arrive home to a clean house and a good meal, but instead he found things exactly as he had left them, and a drunken Melby.

"Melby is sorry, Master," the elf was crying. Her eyes were wide and red from rubbing tears away. There was snot dripping from her pointed nose. She looked absolutely terrible and she smelled distinctly of Butterbeer.

Draco didn't know what to do. He'd never been very good at dealing with _human_ females crying, let alone House Elves. Back at school, Draco avoided people when they were crying if he could help it at all. He didn't even like himself when he was crying, or thinking about crying. Thinking about crying brought back bad memories; memories of a certain Harry Potter and a fight in the bathroom.

He didn't want to think about sixth year, so he did the only thing he could think of. Patting Melby softly on the head he said a weak, "it's alright" and turned away. This made the elf cry out even louder.

Draco groaned. "What do you want from me? It's not like I can un-free you." Melby stopped crying and looked up at him hopefully. "No, I said I _can't_ un-free you. It's impossible. I'm sorry." This set her off again and she ran to the corner of the room to cry some more. Draco sighed and ran his hands over his face and through his hair. It was going to be a long night.

Hungry, he went to the kitchen and made himself a sandwich, the Muggle way because he never learned how to make it with magic. He went to his bedroom next and turned on the Wizard Wireless to try and drown out Melby's whimpers. The Wireless wasn't enough though and Draco almost found himself calling out to Melby to bring him some earplugs.

Needless to say, it was a very long night.

~~~~

Harry's day wasn't much better.

It started out pretty slow, and he was surprised at how well the freeing of Kreacher had gone. There wasn't much to do when he arrived at work; the Aurors never really had a whole lot to do anymore. Since Harry's defeat of Lord Voldemort five years earlier, the most exciting days came when the Aurors had to search for a stray Death Eater that escaped the net.

The first report came in a couple of hours after Harry arrived and promptly ignored. Wizards having problems with their House Elves was no business of the Aurors. But the reports kept coming in. It was slow at first, but by lunchtime, the Auror office was filled with Owls carrying notes about House Elves that were drunk and disorderly.

So Harry was put on the case to find out why it was happening. It was a bit of an odd case, but Harry didn't expect it to take very long. He started out his afternoon by going to each of the houses that had sent in complaints and interviewing the Wizards and Witches.

Interviewing people was the worst part of Harry's job. Everyone wanted to talk to The Chosen One and tell him stories about their lives and accomplishments. Harry could handle that, he'd had plenty of experience sitting through pointless stories and ramblings about unimportant subjects. The part that was frustrating was that everyone lied. No matter what the question was, people always tried to give the answer they thought that Harry wanted to hear, as if it was some sort of sin to say something bad in the face of The Boy Who Lived.

By the time Harry got home, he was exhausted. It was one of those days where he just wanted to sit on the sofa and relax after work. Unfortunately for Harry, Kreacher had disappeared sometime during the day. Harry suspected the Butterbeer had made him tired and he had curled up somewhere and fallen asleep. That just meant that instead of relaxing, Harry had to cook his own food and clean up on his own.

At least he had practice.

 ~~~~

Draco was grumpy.

Melby had been crying half the night, so Draco couldn't sleep. By the time he'd finally gotten to sleep, he only had a couple of solid hours before he had to wake up and make his own breakfast and go to work.

And now, Draco had to spend his lunch break going to the store and buying himself a pair of earplugs so that he wouldn't have to be up the entire night again tonight.

He walked into the store and immediately regretted doing so. Not only was the store horribly tacky in its design and organization, but standing not five meters from the door was Harry Potter in all his irritating glory.

Draco groaned in frustration and walked forward. "Potter," he said with a snarl.

Potter turned to Draco and rolled his eyes. "Malfoy, what are you doing here? I didn't think you'd stoop so low as to show your face in a place like this."

"If I could help it, I certainly wouldn't, not that it's any of your business what I do with my face." Draco looked around. He had no idea where to even start to look for earplugs, but he certainly wasn't going to ask _Potter_ for help in finding them.

"Looking for something?" Potter asked, as if reading Draco's mind.

Draco scoffed. "I can find it myself, thanks." Potter was not supposed to be being helpful. He was supposed to be an annoying git.

"Suit yourself," Potter said with a smirk. "It's a big store, so I hope you don't get lost. That would just be awful."

Draco rolled his eyes and then took another look into the depths of the store. Potter was right; it was a pretty big store. "Fine, help me Oh Golden Boy! Lead me to the earplugs so I don't have to listen to your irritating voice any longer."

"Maybe, if you say please."

"Don't kid yourself, Potter. I'm only allowing you to help me because there is no one else around." Draco sneered at him and Potter let out a wry laugh.

"So, you want to keep this our little secret then? Ouch, Malfoy, a man might think you were ashamed of him." Potter put his hand to his chest, faking heartache.

"There's a man here? Where? I'd like to meet him."

"Ha ha, Malfoy," Potter said, "I'm more of a man than you can ever hope to be, you pouf."

Draco sighed in frustration. "Just shut up and take me to the earplugs, Potter, you're wasting my lunch hour."

"Oh, somebody's a little touchy." Potter raised his eyebrows, but Draco shot him down with a cold stare. "Fine, fine, I'll show you where the earplugs are. Keep your trousers on."

"Don't worry," Draco said with a wry smile, "my trousers will be staying in place as long as you're around. I wouldn't want to excite you too much. You might forget where you're going and then I'd never get my earplugs."

"In your dreams, Malfoy."

~~~~

The assignment in the Auror Office was to go down the list and interview every House Elf owner in London. Of course, Harry couldn't do it all himself, so they split up the list.

The other Aurors wanted Harry to think that it was his own bad luck that got him stuck with Wizards with last names starting with the letter M, but he knew better. They knew perfectly well that Draco Malfoy's name was on that list and no one wanted to have to deal with him.

Harry slowly made his way through the list, each new interview bringing him closer to having to deal with Malfoy again. Their meeting over lunch had left Harry with a bitter taste in his mouth and a strange feeling in his stomach. He chalked it up to nausea due to excessive exposure to pillock, but he still didn't want to put himself through that again.

It was late afternoon by the time Harry finally reached Malfoy's name on the list. He steeled his resolve and Apparated to the alleyway closest to Malfoy's address. He took the lift up to Malfoy's floor before realizing that Malfoy might not even be home.

He reached the flat and listened through the door to see if he could hear anyone inside. There was someone moving around, so he knocked on the door. The movement grew louder for a few seconds and then grew quiet.

"What do you want, Potter?" Malfoy said when he finally opened the door. Harry's breath caught in his chest and he tried to keep his focus on Malfoy's dripping hair rather than the water droplets running along the scars his bare chest to the black towel slung low around his waist.

Harry cleared his throat. "Auror Harry Potter, I'm here to ask you a few questions."

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "Well, Auror Harry Potter, can I put some clothes on first?" He stepped back and motioned for Harry to come into the room.

"No," Harry said reflexively. "Yes, I mean, yes, please put some clothes on and hurry up, I don't have all day."

Malfoy smirked and left the room. Harry looked around. The flat was pretty normal, not as extravagant as Harry would have guessed Malfoy would live in, even a little bit untidy, which was strange. That was when Harry saw the House Elf. She was obviously pissed and had been for a while. She was moving slowly along the wall toward one of the corners, wobbling heavily.

"What's your name?" Harry tried to ask her, but she didn't reply, she just turned around and sat in the corner, staring at him with her big puffy eyes.

"Melby," Malfoy said, coming out of the room. He had put on trousers and was currently drying his hair with a towel, but he hadn't even brought a shirt out of the room to put on. The scars on his chest were less visible when they weren't sopping wet, but Harry could tell exactly where they were. "So, Potter, what did you need to ask me that you had to interrupt my afternoon off?"

Harry cleared his throat again and tried to slow his breathing. It was quite disgusting that Draco Malfoy was having this affect on him, but it _had_ been a while. "Yes, well, the Auror Department is doing an investigation on House Elves. It seems there's been a sort of epidemic of them well, being drunk and disorderly."

Malfoy let out a terse laugh. "I wonder why…"

"Well, that's what we're here to find out. So, obviously your House Elf has been imbibing alcohol, correct?"

"Can we please skip the asinine questions? Yes, Melby's pissed, she started drinking after I left for work yesterday, I assume. I freed her in the morning before work and she started crying. I left, and when I came back, she was pissed. She cried all night and kept me up until she finally passed out early this morning. Then she woke up again and started drinking some more."

Harry stuttered. "Yes, well, um, oh yes, do you know where she is getting the alcohol, Malfoy?"

Malfoy sighed. "Do you really think if I knew where she was getting it, I wouldn't stop her? I got rid of what little I had in the flat because I thought that would help, but obviously she's getting it from somewhere else."

"Alright, I guess that's all then, unless you can think of anything she's done that would be considered 'disorderly'." Malfoy stared. "No? Okay. Well," Harry handed Malfoy a card, "here's my Floo address. If you think of anything else, let me know."

~~~~

Strange days were none too common for Draco, and today definitely took the cake. He thought it would have made him angry to see Potter twice in one day, but for some reason it didn’t. Maybe it had something to do with the way Potter was staring at him. He hadn’t been stared at like that in, well, days.

Nonetheless, he had seen Potter twice and gotten Potter’s Floo address, and now he was out at a club and who was there, but Harry bloody Potter.

Draco walked up to the bar and ordered himself a drink. Looking to his left he saw Potter staring at him again and sneered for good measure. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're stalking me, Potter."

"You wish, Malfoy."

That was how the night had started. It continued with insults and banter for a few hours before both Draco and Potter were too drunk to stand properly.

Potter tried to stand, telling Draco, "I have to go home," but he fell over, landing very ungracefully in Draco's lap. Draco burst out laughing. "Don't laugh at me, ponce."

"You're the ponce, Harry Poncer," Draco spat back elegantly and Potter laughed, moving his hand up to stroke the side of Draco's face. "Poncer," Draco said and then leaned forward to capture Potter's mouth with his own.

It was sloppy and not at all what a first kiss was supposed to be like, but it didn't stop either of them from continuing to lick and suck and bite at each other's mouths. Before Draco knew it, they were both panting heavily. Draco pulled back and pushed Potter off his lap. Grabbing him around the waist, he led them to the alleyway outside the club and Apparated them to his flat.

They landed clumsily in front of the fireplace, where Potter fell on the floor and almost squashed Melby, who was passed out in front of the chair. Draco burst out laughing again.

"You're as drunk as a House Elf," he slurred out.

"What House Elf?" Potter asked distractedly, trying to get up from the floor.

"Melby," Draco said, and pointed to the elf that Potter was nearly on top of. They both laughed at that and then Draco clumsily helped Potter off the floor.

Standing close with their arms around each other they promptly continued their exploration of mouths and hands and teeth and tongues until clothes started to come off and Draco maneuvered them to the bedroom for the rest of the passion-filled night.

~~~~

It was beautifully sunny the next morning when Harry woke up in Draco Malfoy's bed. The blonde was draped over the right half of Harry's body, still sleeping soundly. Harry lay staring down at the peaceful form of his newfound lover and thought that this was probably one of the few times when Malfoy wasn't running his mouth. It was brilliant.

Then Harry's stomach started growling. He didn't want to disturb Malfoy's slumber, but he was hungry, so he carefully extricated himself from the tangle of limbs and walked quietly to Malfoy's kitchen. Harry opened the cupboards one by one and found nothing but a few odd dishes and some junk food. There was no sort of breakfast food whatsoever. Harry's stomach growled again.

Resigned, Harry pulled on the clothes he had worn to the club the night before, and went to the store to buy some food to make for breakfast. It was a strange concept, making a man breakfast after the first not-really-a-date date, but Harry felt the compulsion to do something nice for Malfoy.

It wasn't until he returned that he realized what a big mistake it had been. Malfoy was furious. Harry had seen the man mad many a time, but never had he seen such hurt and anger flashing in those silver eyes.

"Malfoy," Harry said cautiously, "what's wrong?"

"Where were you?" Malfoy said shortly. "I went to the store to buy us some breakfast." Harry shrugged. It was the truth after all, and he'd only really been gone a short while.

Malfoy started mumbling then. Something incoherent, but Harry distinctly heard the words Mudblood and House Elves, so he figured out the basics. "Malfoy, I know we've never really been friends before and you had no intention to ever take anything I said seriously, but I've told you many times not to call Hermione a Mudblood."

"I'll call her a Mudblood if I bloody want to, Scarhead," Malfoy said with a sneer that rivaled the worst from their school days.

Now Harry was starting to get angry. "So it's back to this then, Ferret Boy? We sleep together and everything's fine but as soon as I leave to go get breakfast you revert back to the Slytherin git you always were? Figures."

"Go blow a Hippogriff, Potter. I don't even know why I slept with you in the first place. Too much alcohol addles the brain, I guess."

"I don't want to hear about your disgusting kinks. You know, you could go to Azkaban for doing stuff like that. But I guess a Malfoy would be used to that. Hasn't about half of your family done time there?"

"At least my family is still alive," Malfoy said coldly.

"I don't have to deal with this." Harry slammed the bag of food down on the table and grabbed his coat from where it fell the night before. He didn't even stop to say goodbye to Malfoy before Apparating back to Grimmauld Place.

~~~~

The Great Hall was packed by the time Draco arrived at the Reunion. Headmistress McGonagall had transfigured a bar to one side where Hagrid was serving drinks, but the majority of the large hall was filled with people dancing and talking to one another. It looked to Draco as if every student from his class was there with someone and every Hogwarts professor that ever taught his class was there with someone else. Draco was hopeful that the ridiculous amount of people would be a much easier to hide from than he had expected.

He had successfully hid at the bar for at least an hour, which was almost worth having to deal with Hagrid's incessant talking. Unfortunately, his hiding place wasn't as tricky as he thought. It probably would have been good to remember that Hagrid and Potter were friends. So when Potter showed up at the bar to get a drink and talk to his good friend, Draco's plans were thwarted.

Quickly downing the rest of his drink, Draco got up and bolted for the door. It was too late, however, because Potter had already seen him. When Draco reached the doorway, Potter was right behind him. "Malfoy!" he was calling, "come back!"

Draco didn't stop until he made it all the way to the bathroom down the hall. Potter didn't stop either. Draco locked himself in a bathroom stall and Potter stood right outside it. "That wasn't very smart, Malfoy. Now you're kind of trapped."

"Go away."

"Sorry," said Potter, "no can do. We need to talk, Malfoy. I need to apologize."

"Apology accepted, now leave." Draco really did not want to have this conversation in a Hogwarts bathroom. He didn't want to have this conversation anywhere.

"I can't do that, Malfoy. I need you to talk to me. I'm sorry that we fought. Well, I guess I'm not _really_ sorry because that's kind of what we do. We fight, a lot. That's what makes us good. You irritate me and I irritate you, and then we get together and have really good sex. Malfoy, can you please come out here so I can stop talking to this door?"

Draco sighed and opened the door. "I'll open the door but I'm not leaving this stall."

"Thank you."

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Draco didn't know what to say. Potter was sorry, maybe, but was Draco?

Steeling his nerves, Draco stood from the toilet he had been sitting on and walked toward Potter. He looked into Potter's eyes and leaned forward. Their lips brushed gently and Draco leaned back. "I'm sorry, too."

Potter smiled and kissed Draco again. "Will you dance with me, Draco Malfoy?"

~~~~

 _Two men in a black cloaks walk along a row of graves to stand next to a stone in the grass. The waves splash upon the rocks in the distance. The cool wind blows a wave of dark hair across the taller man's face. The paler man reaches a slender hand up to brush it away from those piercing green eyes._

 _"I wanted you to see this," says the taller man and they both kneel down in the grass. The paler man stretches his hand out and runs his fingers along the words etched into the stone. The taller man speaks again. "I know your family never really approved of Dobby, but he saved my life more times than I'd like to count. He died trying to save me."_

 _The paler man cups the taller man's face in his hands. "I understand," is all he says. He stands and pulls the taller man to his feet. Wrapping his arms around the taller man, the paler man looks up into those piercing green eyes and smiles. "I love you, Harry Potter," he says._

 _"I love you, too, Draco Malfoy," the taller man says, and they kiss, slow and tender. The taller man takes the hand of the paler man and begins to walk away from the stone on the ground, but the paler man turns back pressing a kiss to his hand and touching the stone._

 _"Thank you, Dobby."_


End file.
